TV presenter Dermot Murnaghan has died aged 68.
The veteran broadcaster and former Sky News presenter, announced that he had been diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in June, telling followers that he was “responding positively” to treatment.
Prostate cancer is entirely curable if caught early through a routine PSA test. However, Murnaghan’s cancer was too advanced for doctors to treat his prostate alone.
“It blindsides you,” Murnaghan said of his diagnosis. “It was coming up to Christmas and the children were all coming home. It’s like a gut punch. I can only imagine the effect on them.”
Following his diagnosis, Murnaghan subsequently began work as an ambassador for Prostate Cancer Research in a bid to increase public awareness of the need for screenings for high-risk groups.
“If only I had got diagnosed at an earlier stage, all that hurt and worry I could have saved them,” he said. “I can’t take it away, but they are coping really well. They’ve been beyond excellent to me.”
Murnaghan told The Telegraph that his instant thought upon receiving his diagnosis was, “What a fool I am.”
“I’ve been sitting on sofas talking to people about health stories throughout my career. I was very aware of prostate cancer and the importance of the PSA test.
“I just thought, ‘Oh, I’ll get round to it.’ And when I did have the test, in that moment at hospital, it was horrendous. Of course, the levels were off the scale.”
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Before joining Sky News, Murnaghan presented ITV’s News at Ten and the BBC Ten O’Clock News (now the BBC News at Ten) as well as Channel 4 News.
He also presented the true crime documentary series Killer Britain, hosted the podcast Legends of News and presented Eggheads for 11 years from 2003.
